This time of year is known as RFP season, the glorious time when corporate America sends their travel planners to conferences like GBTA (Global Business Travel Association) to negotiate prices and with hotels for next year. A time of wonder and mystery!

If it were a company, the federal government would be the largest travel buyer of hotel stays in America, possibly in the world. And not by a little bit, it dwarfs the next highest which is believed to be Deloitte, BY TEN TIMES!

How does all of this work, who benefits, where's it going, and what does the General Services Agency have to do with it? Spoiler: a whole lot.

Isaac Collazo is VP of Analytics at STR, Smith Travel Research, THE global leader in hospitality data benchmarking, analytics and marketplace insights. What does that mean? It means when it comes to hotel numbers, nobody understands them like Isaac, but what he really understands, Moneyball style, is the story behind the data.

We get into STR reports, what metaphor Isaac would use to describe the first half of this year, the future of extended stay, how a new U.S. president would affect the hotel industry, the difference between office vacancy stats and hotel vacancy stats, and a GREAT mystery question.

https://str.com/
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/tell-me-more-a-hospitality-data-podcast/

The airline industry. Brian Sumers lives it, he breathes, he speaks truth about it unlike anybody else. He is the founder and editor of The Airline Observer, a newsletter covering the global airline business. He's also co-host of The Air Show in which he discusses the business of the sky.

Brian talks with Jeff and Matt about shenanigans at Southwest Airlines, whether inbound flight traffic from China is ever coming back, saving Boeing, Jetblue's pivot, and the future of loyalty programs.